Our Christian duty to speak up for the poorest and most vulnerable is clear – especially when they are suffering the consequences of the economic crisis and public spending cuts.

Can we pass by on the other side, when banks prepare to hand out multi-million pound bonuses to a few, whilst others struggle to make ends meet? As Christians, we must be concerned when we hear that the yawning gap between rich and poor in our own country is now at record levels.

This is why Church Action on Poverty has launched a major new campaign to encourage churches and individual Christians to Pledge to Close the Gap between rich and poor in the United Kingdom.

The UK remains the sixth richest nation on the planet – but one increasingly characterized by inequality between rich and poor. The total wealth of the richest tenth of the population is now almost 100 times greater than that of the poorest ten percent – a gap higher than at any time for at least the past 30 years.

Apparently, for those at the top, life remains good. A boom in ‘greed is good’ spending is sweeping through London. Stores, clubs and restaurants have been astonished by the sudden spike in guilt-free spending in recent weeks.

But for people like Maureen, from Stockton-on-Tees – and thousands like her - the story is rather different: "Practically everything has gone up. My gas and electricity was £62 a month. It's now £90 a month. Water rates, they've gone up. My rent, thank heaven has stayed the same, but that's £350 a month.

"Bus fares have risen eight times in the last couple of years. Three or four times last year they went up in price, and with us being on benefits, it's a hard thing to have to fork out for. I shop round for the best prices for things like milk. I know it sounds awful, but I buy my milk wherever I can get it cheapest. If I've got to walk there, I'll walk.”

So does inequality matter? Research has conclusively shown that among the richest countries, it's the more unequal ones that do worse according to almost every quality of life indicator.

A country's life expectancy, crime levels, literacy and health are affected much less by per-capita GDP than by the size of the gap between the richest and poorest in the population. And inequality harms the outcomes for everyone – not just the poorest.

Some may say: “So what? It’s just the way it is and you have to get on with it.” But for Christians this is no answer. Our faith tells us that another world is possible. As Martin Luther King said: “Deeply etched in the fibre of our religious tradition is the conviction that all are made in the image of God… Both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny.”

For this reason, Church Action on Poverty, with the backing of senior Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches church leaders, has launched a major new three-year campaign, with a challenge to both to churches and to politicians: Are you prepared to Give, to Act and to Pray to Close the Gap between rich and poor in the UK?

We want at least 10,000 people each year to sign pledges to give, act or pray. So what are you prepared to do? Could you make a regular financial commitment to tackling poverty? Challenge your own MP over their commitment to narrowing the gap? Ensure your church (and diocese) pays a Living Wage to all its employees? Or pray on a regular basis for an end to the gap between rich and poor?

I invite you to join us! Make your pledge at www.church-poverty.org.uk



Niall Cooper is National Coordinator of Church Action on Poverty